In chemical lasers, there is a need for chemical pumping material or getter material for absorbing the spent laser gases. Calcium is a chemical pump or getter material that is commonly used, however, this material must be supported in some way to be effectively used for the chemical pump or getter material. Since calcium must be kept in a dry atmosphere, and due to other support needs for this material, there is need for producing plates, discs, or wafers that contain calcium at low cost.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple method by which a multiplicity of reinforced calcium powder discs can be produced simultaneously as a batch to reduce the cost of producing the reinforced calcium powder discs.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method which can be carried out with reduced labor cost due to a multiplicity of the support structures or molds with the calcium thereon being placed in a common bag or housing and being adapted to be isostatically pressed simultaneously.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a method in which incapsulated polyvinyl chloride aluminum plate molds provide the stiffness for flatness control and elastomeric materials over the entire mold surfaces to effect an isostatic condition for more uniform densification of the calcium powder.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a method in which a truer isostatic pressing results in better disc quality such as uniform density and mechanical stability.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in this art.